Antônio Cotrim / Lusa
The general secretary of the Socialist Party (PS), Pedro Nuno Santos
PS leader does not know if the government will last the entire legislature. There is already a date for the States General, to prepare the socialists.
The Government believes that its functions will remain until 2028, but Pedro Nuno Santos has another stance.
The general secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) told the newspaper that thinking about early elections cannot be an “excluded possibility”.
“We don’t know when there will be elections but the PS you have to be prepared“, continued the deputy, who announced that the States General of the party will begin in April this year and will last for a year – if there are early elections due to a rejected State Budget, the elections would, by that time, be in April or May 2026.
This process will focus on preparing the PS’s programmatic “alternative” for the next elections: “The States General will not be used to oppose the Government. The States General will serve to build and present an alternative to the country“.
But Pedro Nuno Santos reject that these States General are an indication of lead from PS to Budget of the State for 2026.
On other matters, the leader of the socialists confessed that does not want to return to the “expression of interest” regime of immigrants. In fact, he confesses, “We haven’t done everything right in recent years when it comes to immigration.”
Pedro Nuno also admits that Portugal was not prepared to receive so many immigrants: “The State and the country did not prepare for the intense entry of foreign workers. I’m talking about our NHS, our education system and housing”.
The socialist deputy wants “regulated” and “humanist” immigration – but Portugal “has to be demanding” with respect to its values, such as “respect for women”.
